Refrigerating apparatus



April 25, 1939. J. K|RGN y 2,155,664

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Original Filed May 8, 1936 -m FI 1 Kf/w 27 y 2 INVENTQR g @halfuyo/z. Y l Y/l 777| HIS A'rToRNEY.

Patented pr. 25, 1939 PATENT oFF-Ica anrmenaarmo ArrAnA'rUs John Kirgan, Easton, Pa., assigner to Ingersoll- Rand Company, Jersey City, N. J., a corporay tion of New Jersey original application May s, 1936, serml'No. 78,528. Divided and this application August 13, 1937,

Serial No. 158,831

6 Claims.

My invention relates to refrigerating apparatus, and especially to refrigerating apparatus comprising a. vessel in which a liquid refrigerant is cooled by vaporizing part thereof and evacuator means of the thermo-compressor type to remove from said vessel the vapor so formed and transfer it to a suitable condenser.

lThis application is' a division of copending application of John Kirgan, Serial No. 78,528,

10 led May 8, 1936, now matured into Patent No.

2,123,735, dated July 12, 1938.

An object of the invention is t'o provide re-v frigerating apparatus of this kind thatis compact in design to enable space to besaved `both horizontally and vertically wherever it is installed. It is also an object to provide refrigerating apparatus having an evaporator vessel and a condenser disposed one above the other, with the evacuator means so connecting said parts. as to reduce the size of the whole to a. minimum. -In the preferred construction the condenser is at the top, and the evacuat'or means couples the condenser to the upper part ot the evaporator where the vapor is created, and, without adding to the total height, stillhas the requisite length for efiicient operation.

Antherobject is to provide refrigerating apparatusV having.V evacuator means arranged to carry oil? vapor from the evaporator through a discharge iiue that passes through the evapora.-

tor, but -is insulated therefrom, to prevent transference of heat thereto.

, -An additional objectis to provide in a. refrigerating. apparatus built as set forth above with a central ue to deliver the vapor to the condenser. an evaporator containing multiple chambers and simple means for controlling the inflow and outilow of the refrigerant to permit easy and quick adjustment tor iull'load or part 40 load output. A further objectl or the invention is to provide refrigerating apparatuswhich is easily as- .,sembled and the various parts whereof are so disposed that the entire unit is strong and rigid and braced by the various members constituting same.

Withthese and other objects and advantages .the invention consts in the arrangement illustrated in the drawing and pointed out in the appended claims; and though only a single form oi the improvement is disclosed, I vmay ot course ----makenvarious changes in l`the embodiment Atet forth without kdeparting from the principle of the invention, or'exoeedi'ax itsscope and spirit. m the drawing, mure 1 is a vertical secuelas:

(c1. sz-126) view through the refrigerating apparatus according to this invention, and

Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the line In the form shown in the drawing the numeral iindicates an evaporator vessel or tank to which the liquid refrigerant, such as water, to be cooled is admitted at the side near lthe lower end through an in letport 2.' In this vessel some of the refrigerant is vaporized and the vapor is withdrawn through-one or more putlet ports 3 in the sides at the top by means of steam ejectors or evacuators 4. These electors create and maintain a vacuum of the desired degree in the evaporator i so that the formation of vapor is acevaporator is transmitted to a condenser 5. which is preferably above the evaporator, and liqueiled, while the main body of the liquid which is cooled -is drawn out through the bottom of the evaporator I by way of a conduit 8.' The refrigerant entering the evaporator by way of the inlet 2 is at such temperature that part of it will be vaporized at once, the vacuum in the evacuator being maintained high enough for this purpose. To enable the system to operate efiiciently at less than full load the evaporator is divided by spaced vertical partitions 1 into a plurality of separate chambers 8. The lower extremities of these chambers 8 are determined by the false bottoms 9 located at the same level near the lower end of the evaporator, and the evaporator has a central sleeve I0 extending through vit from top to bottom. 'A discharge pipe or flue Il for the evacuators Il, passes up through this sleeve into the condenser 5. These evacuators are at no point higher than the top ofthe evaporator, and they extend away from the condenser to provide suilicientv lengthI o! discharge conduit 2B without increasing the overall height of the complished. The vapor withdrawn ,from the.

structure. The evacuators are connected to the .l

iiue i i below the evaporator. This ilue is somewhat smaller in diameter than the bore of the sleeve so that a space l2 lies between the two and this space may be an airspace or be filled with insulation so that there is a minimum transfer oi heat between the parts I0 and il. A

' Within the chambers 8 are vertical partitions il similar to the partitions 'I which are spaced around and extend from the. sleeve i0 to* the side wall 'oi' the evaporator i. l In the construction shown the partitions 'I extend from the bottom l to thetop of the evaporator l, whereas the partitions Il extend from the bottom 9 but .terminate short of the' of the evaporator tank. Hence; since for each partition 1 there is a correspondingpartitim Il. a pair of wells i3 are formed which are bounded by the partiis normally full of water or other liquid refrig erant colning in through the inlet 2, this compartment being formed by the false bottoms l and a second false bottom I8 that is above the lower end of the evaporator and forms a compartment i1 which is drained by the outlet conduit 6. The'wells I3 are in open communication through the open bottom thereof with chamber i5. Thus the wells I2 are supplied with liquid refrigerant from the chamber I5 which rises in the wells and'ilows over the tops. of the partitions Il to the chambers I- where the refrigerant isfcooled. The second bottom Il is in the form of an annular ring and completely encircles the sleeve il. Both bottoms are pierced by the tubular members I l through which -thechilled liquid is'conveyed from the chambers 2 to the lower compartment I1. 0f course if desired the partitions Il may have openings 3l therein below the top edges thereof vto divide the water entering the chambers l into a number of sprays or jets.

InA operation when the evaporator receives a liquid refrigerant. lsuch as water, through the inlet 2 the water-will rise from the compartment' Il through the wells i3 and will flow over the upper edges of the `shorter partitions i4 and downward into the chambers l. Owing to the vacuum produced in the chambers 3 by the y evacuators 4, part of the water is vaporlzedand the vapor is'drawn out .through the outlets 3 while the remainder of the water remains liquid Y andis'cooled, flowing out .through the passages Il into the compartment I1, and is drawn oi! through-the pipe I, The pump 2l causes the cooled water to lcirculate and forces it into a cooling coil 2i located at aplace where a refrigeraung enact n desired. 'me 'refrizersnt in nur cooling coil heat and after being warmed is returnedthrough s connection from one end ofthis coil-to the inlet 2 and cooled over.

EachoftheeJectorsIcomprlsesa-steamchest 22 which receives-steam through 'a pipe 23. At 24 are the` steam nonies which direct a jet of duid into `theffmouths- 25 of tubular 23 at 21 beneath `.the evaporator i this ntting resting.

connectedto'theejectors 4, these casings being L-shaped and communicating with the central flue il -at their lower ends. By way of example, I show only two evacuators and two' chambers, and use in this case a four-way ntting indicated upon a tubular pedestal 23. Qne way through the fitting is connected to the conduit il and two more are' joined to the lower end of each of the' casings 2t., The fourth way is sealed by a closure llsothatsteam andvaporinthe'casings 28 must passupvvard` conduit il into the condenser l.. A

The electoral are secured to the'sides of the evaporatorby suitable nanges and other fastening meansl and`.the lower end of the 'conduit |imay lieiiisngedso astoen'sbie through the-member il are likewise hanged to enable the pipe Il, the

' caslngs 2i and to be easily connected together. Oi' -coumefmore chambers and evacuators may be and the fitting 21 will then have more than fom' ways through it. If necessary the member 21 mayv of course be provided with proper draining facilities (not shown) therein or flow down the flue Ii.-

The condenser 5, preferably of the barometric time. has an opening 30 in its top to be connected to an evacuator for withdrawing air and nonlfor the removal of any liquid which may collect condensible gases from the condenser and a cooling liquid is supplied to the interior of the condenser through a pipe 2|. Within the condenser are deilector plates 32 which are staggered so that the water coming in through the pipe 3| is divided andthe vapors entering the condenser from the conduit il are caused to mingle with the water and give the greatest liquefying eiIeet.

, The water and liqueued steam are drained out from the condenser by pipe 33.

With this construction it will be seen that the apparatus is very compact and strong and the parts are disposed so that enective operation under varying working conditions is facilitated. If it be desired to runat part load. the steam for one of the electors 4 can be out on by shutting a suitable valve (notshown) in the pipe 2,3. In the chamber 3 which is connected to a nonoperating ejector the pressure will rise untilit equals the pressure in the condenser.' and the level of the refrigerant in the associated well i3 will then automatically sink so that it will no longerv flow over the top of the partition therein. IAlso the pressure in -that chamber will force down .the level of the water in the passage thereof. The non-oper ating chamber. ShQwn at the left in Figure 1, is thuo sealed by the refrigerantiin the compartment I1 and in its well I3, while the other chamber or chambers continue to refrigerate. Hence no valves except the valves for the steam pipes 23 are needed. At the` same timel the construction is very simple and can be assembled and set up or taken down merely by removing the bolts o or other fastenings (not shown) which hold the `evaporator i, evacuators I, casings 2t and the l -parts 21 and 23 together.

It will be seen that the warm refrigerant returning from the coil 2| to the wells I3, which it reaches by passing through the compartment I5, makes contact with' the false bottom 8 and it V which are also in contact with the chilled water. Some heat is of course transferred throughthese bottom plates from the warmed returned water to the outflowing chilled water, butthis transfer does not constitute'a loss of. refrigeration because any heat given to thechilled water by the return .waterreducedthe quantity of` heat which must be `removed from the return water in the evaporator l.v Such heat as may be taken up by the.

chilled water is not enough to materially raise its temperature. To prevent other heat losses the barometric condenser I on-top of the evaporator maybe so mounted on the evaporator i that an ,air space (not shown) can be enclosed between the top of the evaporator thel bottom of the condenser; orthe condenser` may be separate and` anysuitable heat insulating materialmay be Placed between the bottom thereof andthe evaporator.

In practice the of the evaporator will 'always be illled with vapor caused by vaporisa-f` the refrigerant, and even if theiniiue'nce tionof oltheooldenserheatsthisvaporslightlmitwill not have any noticeable eiect on the normal operation of the evaporator or to reduce the capacity of the steam jet boosters.

I claim:

1. Refrigerating apparatus comprising an evaporator tank having a pair of spaced transverse partitions therein forming an inlet compartment therebetween, an inlet for liquid to said compartment, a plurality of spaced vertical partitions in the tank extending upwardly from the higher of said transverse partitions, said vertical partitions being grouped in pairs to form alternate liquid wells and vaporization chambers therebetween, saidv chambers being rendered noncommunicating by every second vertical partition and each of said wells being in free communication with the inlet compartment and one of said chambers, outlet means for Vapor from the chambers, and means forming a discharge passage for liquid from each of said chambers, said means extending through both of said transverse partitions.

2. Refrigerating apparatus comprising an evaporator having a chamber and an inlet compartment therein leading to the chamber and an outlet compartment belowl the inlet compartment, and means forming passages leading from the chamber passing through the inlet compartment to communicate, with the outlet compartment.

3. Refrigerating apparatus comprising an evaporator tank having spaced vertical partitions therein, said partitions dividing the tank into separate chambers and spaces therebetween which form wells for admitting liquid to. saidchambers, the tank also having outlets for vapor from the chambers.

4. Refrigerating 'apparatus comprising an evaporator tank having spaced vertical partitions therein, said partitions dividing the tank into separate chambers and spaces therebetween which form wells for admitting refrigerant to said chambers, and alternate partitions terminating below the top of the tank to permit each i of the wells to communicate with a chamber.

5. Refrigerating apparatus comprising an vevaporator tank having a tubular sleeve extending vertically therethrough' vertical partitions cooperating with the sleeve and spaced there- `spaced around said sleeve to divide the interior of the evaporator into a pluralityof separate chambers, said partitions being grouped in pairs.V

each pair ,forming a space therebetween, and saidsleeve co-operating with said partitions `to divide said spaces into inlet wells for admitting refrigerant to. the chambers, one partition oi each 'of said pairs extending the 'full height of the 'chamber to vseal one Vchamber from the next and the other partitions terminating below the top of the 'chambers to permit refrigerant to ilow from said wells into said chambers.

JOHN mRGAN. 

